'I will open for Kings XI and play the same way I have been playing'

'I will open for Kings XI and play the same way I have been playing'

IPL 6 wasn’t very good for me. I wasn’t making runs for Delhi. This time I’m a part of a new group and hope I can repay the faith of the franchise.

Virender Sehwag talks to Rediff.com’s Manu Shankar about life on the sidelines and his chances of regaining lost glory in the upcoming Indian Premier League season.

Whether he is in form or not, one trait about Virender Sehwag is his positivity. Like always, it takes one solid innings for the 'Sultan of Multan' to roar back to form.

His last Test was against Australia at Hyderabad, and last ODI against Pakistan, both over a year back. Following dwindling form and a string of poor scores in domestic cricket the dashing opener finds himself in the wilderness.

But a whirlwind innings for the MCC against Durham last last month could change all that.

Sehwag smoked a 88 off 109 deliveries, which included 18 hits to the fence and one six, as Marylebone Cricket Club posted a six-wicket victory over Durham in a Champion County Test match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Naturally, the confidence is back.

The Delhi opener is now hopeful of a good showing in the upcoming seventh season of the IPL, where he will turn out for Kings XI Punjab.

The 35-year-old opener, who has 8586 Test runs from 104 matches and 8273 runs from 251 ODIs to his name, talks to Rediff.com’s Manu Shankar about life on the sidelines and his chances of regaining lost glory in the upcoming Indian Premier League season.

'I owe my triple ton to Tendulkar'

Of course, it does! It is the most-cherished moment of my life. It’s been 10 years, but I still remember it like yesterday.

The thing is, when I scored that triple ton [309] in Multan, I wasn’t aware of that fact that I would be the first one to hit it. I thought [Sunil] Gavaskar or Gundappa Viswanath would have achieved the feat. It was only after I got back into the dressing room that I got to know about it.

Tendulkar was at the other end in that match and he told me not to hit sixes after I reached 125 or so. He kept motivating me to go for a big score. But for him I may not have scored my first triple hundred.

Who’s your best bet to score a triple ton for India again?

Anyone from No 1 to No 4 can score a triple ton. But if I have put a name, then it has to be Kohli, [Cheteshwar] Pujara or Rohit [Sharma].

Any plans on hanging up your boots and going into entrepreneurship?

Not right now. I plan to give myself at least three years more, if my body permits. After that I will decide.

Image: Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar during the course of the triple century against Pakistan in 2004Photographs: Scott Barbour/Getty Images